Tom kha gai is Thailand's delicious national dish coming from the central part of the country and bearing the influence of neighbouring Laos. It is a soup whose name translates to boiled galangal chicken soup, consisting of coconut milk, chicken chunks or shreds, galangal (reddish-brown or pink woody plant related to ginger), lemongrass, garlic, bird's eye chili peppers, kaffir lime leaves, fish sauce, and shiitake mushrooms.
Galangal's peppery, pungent, slightly sour and floral flavors provide an interesting contrast to the creaminess of coconut milk, creating a wonderfully aromatic dish in the process. Tom kha gai is highly nutritious with great medicinal properties, such as the ability to soothe the gastro-intestinal tract.
MOST ICONIC Tom kha gai
View moreMAIN INGREDIENTS
Tom Yum is one of the best known Thai dishes, a spicy, sour, and aromatic soup that is traditionally served with rice. It consists of shallots, lemongrass, fish sauce, minced fresh ginger or galangal, shrimps, mushrooms, kaffir lime leaves, lime juice, and minced Thai chili peppers.
Usually served as an appetizer, tom yum is traditionally garnished with coriander leaves on top. Due to its popularity, different versions of the soup started to appear over the years, such as tom yum gai, with added chicken, and tom yum talay, with mixed seafood.
VARIATIONS OF Tom yum
MOST ICONIC Tom yum
View moreRoughly translated as boat noodle soup, this Thai dish was initially sold from boats that navigated through Bangkok canals. The base is made with different types of noodles that are doused in a flavorsome beef broth, while the toppings usually include beef or pork, meatballs, bean sprouts, morning glory, and pork’s liver.
Traditionally, the dish is finished off with the addition of animal blood, which provides thickness and imparts a distinctive flavor. Nowadays, boat noodles can be enjoyed in restaurants and various street stalls, but locals and tourists alike flock to the so-called boat noodle alley, where most vendors specialize in the preparation of this dish.
Khao tom is a variety of rice soup from Thailand that combines rice with a flavor-packed broth of herbs and vegetables. The rice is usually cooked, then added to the broth containing shallots, lemongrass, galangal or ginger, and garlic. The combination is then cooked until the consistency becomes thick.
This rice soup is enjoyed hot, typically laced with fish sauce, soy sauce, and lime juice, and often accompanied by small pork balls, shredded chicken, shrimps, fish, or eggs for a more satisfying meal. Chopped coriander, scallions, tofu, chilis, and fried garlic include some of the typical seasonings.
MOST ICONIC Khao tom
View moreSuki is the Thai version of a communal hot pot dish. It grew out of Chinese and Japanese traditions of preparing and cooking ingredients tableside in a shared bowl. The assembling of the dish starts with a bowl placed in the middle of the table, usually filled with a lemongrass-spiced chicken broth.
The rest of ingredients can include meat, pork, and chicken, a wide range of seafood ingredients, glass noodles, and vegetables such as cabbage, shiitake mushrooms, spring onions, carrots, and celery. The unique characteristic of Thai suki is the dipping sauce, created with a substantial amount of chili peppers, coriander, garlic, and lime.
MOST ICONIC Suki
View moreThe pink-colored yen ta fo is a Thai soup consisting of various types of noodles served in a hearty chicken or pork broth seasoned with the pungent, fermented red bean curd. Each bowl of this flavor-packed soup is topped with various condiments such as fish balls, squid, shrimps, fried tofu, and the leafy water morning glory.
Typically served in traditional Thai restaurants and sold at numerous street stalls, yen ta fo is popular throughout the country and is usually enjoyed as a filling main course.
MOST ICONIC Yen ta fo
View moreOften dubbed as the northern Thai version of the popular tom yum, this spicy and sour soup consist of a flavorful broth that is usually infused with kaffir lime leaves, Thai basil, lemongrass, and galangal. Although it is traditionally prepared with beef and beef offal, some variations may include pork or water buffalo.
The soup is often additionally enriched with fish sauce, lime juice, or tamarind. It is usually served garnished with chili flakes or fresh chili peppers.
MOST ICONIC Tom saep
View moreTom chuet is a simple, clear soup made with vegetables, usually Chinese cabbage, carrots, and french beans, simmered in vegetable broth along with seasonings, celery, spring onions, garlic, and soy sauce. This dish can also use chicken or pork broth instead of vegetable broth and is often enriched with pork meatballs, glass noodles, soft tofu pieces, seaweed, and mushrooms.
Also known as kaeng chuet or tom jued, this dish has a mild flavor that makes it quite different from other Thai dishes, which typically combine several flavors in one. It is traditionally served hot or warm, usually followed by other, spicier dishes.
Kaeng om is a light herbal curry originating from northern Thailand. Unlike the creamy curry varieties, this version does not employ coconut milk. The meat stock is water-based and enriched with a pungent fish sauce known as pla ra, kaffir lime leaves, dill, various vegetables, as well as a fragrant curry paste which usually combines chili peppers, shallots, garlic, and lemongrass.
Although it is usually prepared with chicken, the dish can also incorporate other types of meat or fish. Kaeng om can be enjoyed on its own as a healthy, nutritious soup, but it can also be served with rice or noodles on the side.
Kuay teow neua is a Thai beef noodle dish, where "kuay teow" translates to "noodles" and "neua" means "beef." It's a popular street food in Thailand, especially in Bangkok.
The dish typically consists of rice noodles (often the flat, wide kind, similar to what's used in pad thai) served in a beef broth, accompanied by slices of beef (it could be a mix of tender beef slices and beef balls). The broth is simmered for hours, usually with bones, spices, and herbs, to achieve a rich and flavorful taste.
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